Death and the Kitten
by Shinigami-chan
Summary: Shunned by the other pilots, Duo begins collage in St. Louis, only to get wrapped up in his new roommate's world... warning-this will be yaoi.
1. Chapter 1

A/N

Yeah, I know, I still haven't finished LLB and I haven't updated anything else in the longest time. Well, life has been busy and not showing any signs of slowing down. Not to mention I just can't for the life of me write fight scenes! That's what's holding up LLB, I can't get the big fight to come out without sounding incredibly idiotic.

Anyway, this story popped in my head when I was reading the Anita Blake series not to long ago and just wouldn't leave me alone.

0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0

Chapter 1

Duo Maxwell, former pilot of the Gundam Deathscythe, sighed as he reached the top of the flight of stairs. Looking around at the crowd of people cluttering the entrance to the collage dorm, he felt a shot of pain shoot through his heart. Determinedly looking away from the happy people chatting with friends or helping each other move their things inside, he entered the wide front doors and pushed his way through to the stairs.

The stairs were just as crowded as the entrance hall and he ducked around people as he went to the fifth floor and exited out into the hall way. If anything, the hall was worse. There was barely any room to maneuver around the crowds loaded down with boxes, suitcases and even furniture. Ducking around a group of jocks that were throwing a football over the heads of the others, he stopped at room 513 and pulled out his key.

Opening the door, he practically fell through as two guys running past shoved him from behind. Righting his balance, he slammed the door shut before looking around. There was one bed on the left wall with an end table next to it, another end table in the corner across from it. Two dressers in the corners near the entrance door and a door on each side right next to the dressers. Both doors were cracked open and he could see that one was a small closet and one was a tiny bathroom. There were also two desks in the spaces next to the two doors.

With another sigh he threw his duffel on the floor and flopped down next to it. Staring up at the ceiling, he let his thoughts wonder back to his comrades from the wars. He couldn't even call them friends really.

Heero Yui had followed after Relena Peacecraft for a short time as a bodyguard before one day he just disappeared. No amount of searching had turned up anything on the ex-Wing Zero pilot, not that it was unexpected. If Heero didn't want to be found, he wouldn't be. Apparently, he didn't.

Chang Wufei had joined the Preventors immediately after the fighting had ended and had cut all contacts with the braided pilot. All phone calls and letters were ignored and the one time that had run into each other on the streets, the Chinese pilot had brushed off the friendly arm thrown over his shoulders and stalked off without saying a word to the shocked Duo.

Trowa Barton had rejoined Cathy at the circus and was a hit as a high wire acrobat as well as being in Cathy's knife throwing act. Duo had shown up at one of the performances but when he had tried to see the tall ex-pilot, Cathy had told him bluntly that Trowa wanted nothing to do with anyone from his past as he was trying to put it behind him. Duo had walked off despondent after he had seen Trowa watching them through a gap in the tent.

Quatre Winner, the former pilot of Sandrock, though had hurt him the most. Duo had gone all the way to the headquarters of Winner Inc. on L4 to see the blond. He had fought with the secretary for a while as she was refusing to even call Quatre to tell him that he was there to see him. Finally after over twenty minutes of arguing, Quatre had come out to see what the problem was. With a sigh at seeing the longhaired man, he had pulled him into the office and closed the door.

Flashback

"What are you doing here?" Quatre asked bluntly as he walked around and sat behind the huge desk.

"_What, I can't visit my old friend, Q?" Duo laughed as he sat on the edge of the desk._

"_I'm kind busy now." Quatre said as he looked at him for a long moment, as if studying him before turning to the side and opening a drawer. Pulling out a large checkbook, he wrote one out and handed it to a confused Duo. _

_Duo looked down at the check for one million dollars in shock for a moment before he looked back up at his friend. "What is this for?"_

"_I want you to take that and leave. Go to school, do something with your life, but don't come back and ask for more. That's all you're getting." Quatre said as he put his checkbook away. He looked back up just in time to get the ripped up check thrown in his face._

"_I never asked for money." Duo growled, hurt and anger battling for dominance in his expressive eyes. "I have more than enough from the war and you know that. All I came to do was see my friend, but I can see it was just a friendship of convenience for you, wasn't it? I don't know what I did to loose all four of you guys but I guess none of you were my friends in the first place. I should have known better than to think otherwise."_

_Quatre was sitting there, blinking in shock as Duo spun on his heel and stalked towards the door._

"_I hope you have a happy life with your money and your company." Duo said without looking back before he opened the door and left the office. Rashid was standing next to the secretary's desk waiting for him._

"_Don't even bother, Rashid, I know when I'm not needed anymore." He snarled as he past him and the smirking lady._

End Flashback

After leaving L4, he had briefly visited the ruins of the Maxwell Church on L2 before heading back to earth. He enrolled in high school and had graduated the top of his class in less than two years before applying to a large collage in St. Luis.

Duo sat up and shook his head firmly, sending his four and a half foot long braid flying as he pushed those thoughts away firmly. This was his home for the next four years and he was going to make the best of it that he could. With determination he turned to his duffle and began unpacking. The rest of his things would be arriving in about an hour and he wanted everything put away by then.

0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0

Duo had just finished putting his things away when there was a pounding on the door. Looking at the knife that had appeared in his hand, he chuckled darkly even as he slipped it up his sleeve and headed for the door.

Opening it, he blinked in shock at the sight of the stack of boxes with legs.

"It's about time Nate! You should have waited for me, it's not like you're the only one starting here today. There has to be about eighty people in this hall alone right now!" A male voice said cheerfully even as the boxes with legs easily walked forward and plopped down on the desk revealing a guy maybe a little older than Duo.

"Hey, you're not Nate! Sure do look like him though. Did I get the right room?"

"What room where you looking for?" Duo asked bemusedly.

"513."

"Well, you got the right room." Duo said as he leaned up against the wall as he studied the man in front of him. Skintight black leather pants with a cropped long sleeved fishnet shirt showed off a fit and handsome body that just screamed 'fuck me'. There also seemed to be a kind of energy that sent prickles up and down his spine.

"Awesome. My name's Jason. You haven't seen a guy around here with a braid to his ankles and lavender eyes have you?"

Duo arched an eyebrow at the description. "Are you kidding me? There's someone else with long hair like mine?"

"Well, his is more auburn than brown, but yeah." Jason said with a smirk. "What are you doing later, gorgeous?"

"Leave my new room mate alone Jason. There will be plenty of time to hit on him later." A smooth voice said from the doorway, snagging Duo's attention. Turning, he hid his surprise as he took in the slender toned body that was poured into skintight black jeans and a tight red shirt. 'Nate' did indeed have an auburn braid that reached his ankles and lavender eyes that revealed nothing though there was a smile on his elfin face. He also had a type of presence that sent shivers up and down his spine.

"It's all good." Duo said simply as the guy walked into the room and over to the desk with it's burden.

"Nathaniel." The other braided man said simply.

"Duo."

Laughing, Jason bounded across the room and wrapped himself around Duo before saying again, "What are you doing later, gorgeous?"

Duo joined in the laughter as he firmly unwound the firm body from around him and said, "Waiting for the rest of my things to get here."

"I can help you pass the time." Jason purred as he wrapped himself around the amused Nathaniel.

"I'm sure you could." Duo chuckled even as there was a knock on the doorframe of the open door.

"I'm looking for a Duo Maxwell?" a man in a delivery uniform said as he balanced an over stacked dolly as he looked at the three men in the room.

"That's me." Duo said as he moved forward to grab the clipboard that the man held out to him. Signing quickly, he gestured the man to drop the stack of boxes and bags next to his bed. "Thanks man." he said as he passed him a twenty as a tip.

After then man had left, Duo closed the door and turned towards his boxes. "So what's in the boxes?" Jason asked as he came over and started looking at the stack curiously.

"Stuff." Duo said as he ripped open the first box revealing nothing but black material. Taking the box, he upended it on the floor revealing that it was bedding along with a huge hammock. With quick motions, the hammock was hung on two hooks anchored in the walls and he was tossing a large black sheet over it and clipping it into place before throwing a giant black comforter over that. Withdrawing two huge fluffy pillows from one of the bags he tossed those on as well.

As he turned away to grab the next box, a figure flew past him to land sprawled out on the hammock. Laughing, he turned back to see Jason flat on his back on the swinging bed, his legs slightly bent and spread with one hanging off the side, while one hand was over his head buried in the pillows and the other was running up and down his chest.

"I take it you like my bed?"

"Want to join me?"

With a sigh, Nathaniel shook his head before going over to the blonde and pulling him out of the swinging bed. "Why don't you go tell Anita that I got here alright and that everything is fine." He suggested and Jason nodded even as whirled around for a moment before latching onto the laughing Duo and planting a huge kiss on his mouth.

"I'll come see you sometime, sweetheart." He said as he drew back and then repeating his actions again on a bemused Nathaniel. "Bye, I'll see you at work tonight!" With that, he was out the door.

"Is he always like that?" Duo chuckled as he turned back to the other braided man.

"Pretty much, but he is a great friend to have."

"I'm sure he is. He seems really nice."

0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0

Nathaniel watched his roommate from the corner of his eye as he began putting his things away. Duo seemed like a nice, laid back kind of guy that took everything in stride. But appearances could be deceiving and he could see that the guy was ready to spring into whatever kind of action that was needed. It was like watching a big cat prowl around the room, playful looking but hiding a deadly force.

Turning back to his own boxes, he quickly made his bed and began loading the clothes into his dresser. He knew all about how a big cat acted, both at play and in a fight, being a ware-leopard himself. Duo was very dangerous. But the question remaining was how dangerous was he to Nathaniel. May people weren't comfortable around wares of any kind and he didn't want to end up killed because of what he was.

"So, Nate, tell me about yourself." Duo said out of the blue, startling Nathaniel badly.

"Oh, I'm 19 years old and I live with a friend. She wanted me to go to collage."

"I'm 19 too. I just wanted to make something of myself." That came out with more than a tinge of bitterness and Nathaniel looked over at the other longhaired man with concern.

"Sorry, I had a friend for a while and we were pretty close. But after some shit, he turned around and handed me a check and told me to leave him alone and make something out of myself." Duo said briskly as he turned back to unpacking.

"Sorry. So what happened?"

"I ripped up the check and threw it in his face before walking out." Duo said was a dark grin.

"Good for you. He was never a friend if he was acting like that."

Duo looked over at the other and watched in surprise as Nathaniel paled dramatically and hurriedly went back to unpacking. "I though the same thing." He said reassuringly.

Nathaniel looked over at him quickly before looking back at the box in front of him.

"So this girl you're living with. Is she cute? Is she your girlfriend?"

Nathaniel laughed quietly as he relaxed marginally.

"She's gorgeous. But we're not together like that. She… helps me."

Duo studied the other man, noting how he tensed up as he spoke about his friend. Not wanting him to feel uncomfortable, he said, "Hey, your lucky there is someone to help you. I grew up on the streets of L2."

"Really?" Nathaniel asked in surprise.

"Yeah. I'm just a colony street rat."

"I was on the street s for a long time." Nathaniel said quietly into the silence that fell over the room. "I'm… not to proud of what I did to survive. But Anita saved me. She's helping me be a better person."

"Awesome man." Duo said warmly with a grin. Changing the subject as he could see that he was uncomfortable, he asked, "So where do you work? Your friend works with you, right?"

"I work down at Guilty Pleasures."

"Really? Doing what?"

Nathaniel hesitated a moment before say flatly, "I'm a stripper."

"Any good?" Duo shot back, surprising a laugh out of him.

"Yeah, I'm not to bad."

"Good, I'll have to come see you at work one of these days then. There is nothing worse that a bad stripper and that's all I've seen for way to long of a time."

Nathaniel blinked in surprise as he turned to look at Duo.

Duo grinned and jumped forward to grab Nathaniel by the hand, ignoring the slight flinch he felt, but storing that reaction away in the back of his mind to think about later. "Come on, I don't know about you, but I'm starved!! I heard about this great place down the road call the Lunatic Café. I hear they make the best burgers around."

"You do know that they cater to wares, right?" Nathaniel asked quietly, looking at Duo intently to see what his reaction was to the news.

"Who cares? They're people too. Do you have a problem with wares?" Duos asked just as quietly as he realized that his new roomy might just have a problem with them.

"No. I have a couple friends that are."

"Cool, then there is no problem." Duo said and began dragging him out of the room, grabbing his key and his wallet on the way out.

Bemusedly, Nathaniel shook his head as he was towed down the over crowded hall, double looks and surprised glances following them as people caught sight of just how long their hair really was. They looked almost like twins with only a few differences between them.

Bursting out of the front door of the dorm, Duo dragged him to the parking lot and up to a big black bike. "Ever been on a motorcycle?"

"No." Nathaniel shook his head briefly as he looked at the massive bike. It was obvious that it was custom made; being it was easily almost as long as a car and had many compartments on it. (Think of Cloud's bike in FF7 Advent Children.)

"You are going to love Deathscythe." Duo said was he handed a black full-face helmet with bat wings on the back to him. He put on a pair of black, wrap around shades and pulled his hair over his shoulder as he straddled the bike. Cautiously, Nathaniel copied him and adjusted the helmet slightly before wrapping his arms gently around the other guy's waist.

Duo grinned as he kick started the engine and startled at least a dozen people with the deep-throated powerful roar. "Are you ready?" he called back over his shoulder and felt the quick nod. With a quick laugh, he took off out of the parking lot, tires squealing as they tried to get a grip on the pavement.

0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0

Richard looked up as the sound of a powerful engine caught his attention. "What is that?" he said quietly to the other two at the table. Jamel and Shang Da both just shrugged as they, too, turned towards the window they were next to, to see if they could spot the disturbance.

After a long minute, the sight of a massive motorcycle whipping around the corner with two figures on it made Richard's mouth drop in shock. Even from where he was sitting, the long braid was visible to them.

"That can't be Nathaniel?! He doesn't have a bike." He said as he turned to his companions.

Neither of the other man said anything as they watched the bake come to a stop in a space in front of the café.

They stared in shock as the two figures climbed off and the one that had been sitting behind the driver took off the black helmet. "Well, I guess it was Nathaniel." Jamel said quietly. "Just not the one we thought." Shang Da added, just as quietly.

They watched as the other figure with the long braid turn towards the were-leopard and said something, causing him to shake his head with a small smile.

0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0

"Well, how did you like the ride?" Duo asked with a sly grin.

Nathaniel smiled as he shook his head, "I can't believe that you did that. I think you gave that one old lady a heart attack when you came around the corner back there as she was crossing the road."

"Aw come on, her heart could use the exercise! Besides, we were at least four feet away!!" Duo exclaimed with a bright smile even as he took the helmet from Nathaniel and locked it up in one of the compartments.

Turning, he threw an arm across the other guy's shoulders and started for the door to the restaurant.

"So, ever been here before?" he asked and at the hesitant nod, he said brightly, "Great! You can tell me what's the best thing to get!"

Entering the building, they let their eyes adjust for a moment. As they blinked in the dimness, a waitress walked up to them.

"Hey kitty, who's you're friend?"

"Silvia, this is Duo. We're dorm-mates." Nathaniel said as he grinned ruefully at the were-wolf.

"You look like you could be brothers." She said as she led them deeper into the restaurant.

"I wish." Duo said with a faint grin. "I'm a street rat from L2. I don't have family." Suddenly his grin got bigger and a lot more wicked. "But I bet we could bring in a lot of money as twin strippers!"

The two weres laughed at the cheerful new comer. "Now that I would pay to see. 'Brandon' here is pretty hot by himself. The two of you together might be enough to turn even my head." She laughed.

"Awe…. You wound me, right here." Duo said dramatically as he clutched his heart. "My boyish good looks… not enough to get a second look from a hot woman." Turning huge teary eyes to the chuckling man next to him, he glomped him and said in a quivering voice, "You'll have hot steamy man sex with me and cheer me up, right?"

Silvia blinked at the two in bemusement for a moment before shaking her head and gesturing to a booth next to them. "Sit down. If I can't have hot steamy female sex with my sweety right now, why should you get any?"

"Ah, that's why." Duo said with a sage nod even as he plopped down in the booth. "My sexiness is assured once more. But if you ever want to have a stud sandwich with your honey, look me up. What red blooded male wouldn't want to be in between two hot women?"

"And how do you know if she's hot?" Nathaniel asked.

"All women are beautiful."

That one line had most of the surrounding people listening in nodding happily. Almost everyone in the restaurant knew Nathaniel and Silvia. Duo seemed like a decent guy, if a little weird.

"So, what's good here?" Duo asked as he grabbed the menu and started looking though it.

"The burgers are the best." Nathaniel said, not even bothering to look at the menu in front of him.

"Hm, then in that case, I'll have the Ultimate cheese burger, rare, with a large Cheerwine." (I don't know if they have Cheerwine in St. Louis. Probably not, but here in NC, its my favorite soda.)

"Are you sure you want rare? It's really rare and bloody." Nathaniel asked cautiously.

"The bloodier the better. That's where all the flavor is!" Duo exclaimed with a laugh.

Silvia laughed and she took the menus from the two at the table. "Ok, your order will be out in a bit."

As she turned away, Duo snagged her hand, shocking her. "Hey." He said with a frown. "You didn't take Nate's order."

"Duo…" Nathaniel said softly. "It's ok."

"And why is it ok?"

"Because I already know what he wants. It's the same thing he gets every time he's in." Silvia laughed as she smiled approvingly at Duo.

"Oh, sorry. I just don't like it when people are rude to my friends."

"I'm glade Nathaniel has a friend like you then. He doesn't have enough." She said and left.

Duo looked over at Nathaniel who blushed slightly at having Duo defend him, even though they had just met. "Are we friends?" he asked in a whisper, but Duo heard him and smiled gently at him.

"Yes. You're now stuck with me forever. I never leave a friend, though sometimes they leave me." Duo said with a faintly bitter tone on the last part.

"I'm glad."

0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0

"Looks like the new kid will be good for Nathaniel." Shang Da said quietly before turning back to his food.

"But did I hear right? They're dorm-mates? As in collage?" Richard asked as she studied the twosome in the booth.

"That's what I heard."

Standing up, Richard walked over to the booth and stared down at the two longhaired men for a moment before turning to Nathaniel.

"So you're going to collage?" he asked the leopard, who nodded warily as he stared up at the massive man.

"How did _you_ get into _collage_?"

Duo stood up, anger tightening his body, when he heard how much speculation was behind the question.

"And what business is it to you?" Duo asked coldly and suddenly there was silence in the room as all eyes turned to the confrontation.

Richard blinked for a moment at the figure that was suddenly in front of him before saying, "Well, it's not like he could have passed the entrance exam on his own. He didn't even go to high school."

"Duo, don't." Nathaniel said quietly.

Duo, though, ignored it as he suddenly slammed his fist into the taller man's face with all his strength, sending him flying backwards a few feet. Before he could blink, he was suddenly pinned to the wall a foot about the ground with a hand around his throat.

Lashing out with both hands and feet, he drove a thumb into one eye even as he drove his steel toe boot into a kneecap. As the man dropped him roughly, another man, who looked Chinese dove in, only to miss as Duo spun away and slammed his fist into the back of the man's neck, knocking him out.

Nathaniel watched in horror as Duo took on the three wolves single handedly.

No one had ever stood up for him like that against what Richard was implying. Sure people got pissed occasionally, but nothing like this. And what was amazing was the teenager was holding his own and even getting the better of the two enforcers. Richard was just standing there, rubbing his jaw as he watched the others in surprise.

Duo stood there for a second as he looked at the two men on the ground before looking back up with rage in his eyes at Richard, but before he could take more than a single step forward, a dark blur was suddenly in front of him and grabbing him by the throat and lifting him off the ground with one hand.

Blinking in shock, his violet orbs locked with deep blue and suddenly the world spun away.

0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0

A/N….. again…

Well, I don't know if I'm going to continue this. I have ideas but not a lot of time for writing, so if no one reviews, then I won't continue this. If no one reads the story, I might as well not write the story.

**So if you like the story and want to keep reading it, REVIEW!!!!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"_Hush, Little One, you are safe. Relax and all will be alright."_ A voice whispered in Duo's mind and he found himself relaxing despite the nagging feeling that something was wrong and that he should be fighting.

'Wait, there was someone…. I need… to…. need to….' Duo thought confused.

"_All, is safe, I will protect you from all harm. Just sleep, ma' petite."_ The voice whispered.

'Protect… me?' Duo thought blankly, the words setting off loud warning bells in his mind.

"_Yes. I will protect you child."_

It was like a bucket of ice water being splashed in his face. No one protected him. There was no one left that he would trust that much. He protected others, end of story. Struggling fiercely he forced himself to remember what had happened.

'I was with Nat and jumped that guy for talking down to him like that and got jumped by those other two guys. I finished with them and went for the first guy and then…then…' Try as he might he just couldn't remember anything after that but deep blue eyes and a blur of black.

"_Sleep, child. SLEEP."_ The voice was back and Duo felt himself getting tired.

'No… no…get out…' he struggled to remain focused, to push the alien thoughts out of his mind. Slowly, he began gaining his strength of will back and he pushed against the cold power he could now feel cocooning his mind.

In response to the feel of the power, a cold power of his own rushed up from the depths of his being, a power that he had known since he was a child on L2. Forcing that power into a needle sharp spear, he thrust it directly at the power controlling him and shattered the grip it held on him.

"Get out of my mind!" he shouted as his eyes snapped open and shoved the person leaning over him away harshly, though the person didn't move very far, in fact, barely swayed.

The feeling of the cold power was bursting at the seams in him, making his violet eyes glow faintly in the dim light, though he didn't know this.

"How are you able to meet my eyes, _ma' petite_?" the figure in front of him asked, his face a blank mask. And it was a man, Duo could see now. Long black hair and intense blue eyes in a body clothed in blank leather pants tucked into thigh high boots with a black silk shirt. Damn, the guy was hot, but Duo wasn't fooled. One look at the completely still body and the burning eyes was enough to tell him that this man was really a vampire. And not only that, but an older one as well. There was a feel of centuries and domination in the power that still was focused on him.

"Fuck you, fang face." Duo snarled as he pushed himself up from the floor, keeping his back to the wall that he had been leaning against.

One elegant black brow rose as the man stared at him coolly.

"Non' petite. I do not think so."

"It's a saying, shit wad." Duo snarled.

The vampire laughed. "You are amusing. And what is your name?"

"Why don't you just tell me yours?" Duo snapped.

"Why, it is Jean Claude."

"Well, fuck me sideways. What the hell does the Master of St. Louis want with me?"

* * *

Jean Claude was amused at the spunk this child had. He couldn't be any older than Anita's kitten, but he had much more self-confidence and spirit than young Nathaniel.

Addressing the question posed in such a unique way, he said calmly, "You have attacked what was mine."

"Who, the ass-hole that was putting Nate down and his body guards?" Duo said as he glared at him some more.

"Monsieur Zeeman does have some rough edges." Jean Claude laughed softly, a sensual sound that sent a shudder down Duo spine.

"Stop the mind tricks." Duo growled.

"I don't know what you mean."

"Bull shit. Knock it off, or I'll shove my fist down your throat."

"Duo!"

Duo whipped his head around at the sound of Nathaniel's panicked voice to see the other long haired man come charging into the room followed by both Jason and a short woman with long black hair and dark eyes with pale skin that looked like moonlight.

"Hey Nate. What are you doing here? And where is here?" Duo asked, the second question directed to the vampire in front of him.

"You are in my office." Jean Claude said with a small smile.

"I have no patience for twenty fucking questions." Duo growled lowly, gaining an arched eyebrow and an amused curl of the woman's lips as she watched him warily.

"Ah, but it would be foolish to give away where my daytime resting place is to an unknown, non?" Jean Claude said amusedly.

"True. Now what the hell is going to happen now?" Duo asked. He could see Nathaniel watching both him and the vampire nervously.

"Now we find out just how much of a threat to us you are." The woman spoke up.

"And who the fuck are you?" Duo snapped as he carefully moved his way to the corner so that he was facing both of the people he saw as threats.

"Anita Blake." She said matter of factly, and this time it was Duo's turn to arch an eyebrow at her.

"The Executioner. Well, that explains all the weapons."

"Oh? And how many do I have?" she asked, amused.

"Four guns, one in an inner pants holder and two under your arms in a harness and one on a strap behind your back. Two blades in wrist sheaths, one blade in your left boot, one strapped to your right thigh, one big ass almost sword going down the middle of your back with the handle being covered by your hair. You also have a silver cross on a long chain that goes right down into your cleavage." Duo said matter a factly and watched with pleasure the surprise that flickered across her face. Nathaniel and Jason were openly gaping at him and Jean Claude could have been made of stone for all the emotion that showed on his face.

"Impressive." She said.

"Yeah, well, I'm observant. But who ever patted me down missed some of my toys." Duo said and instantly Anita was one guard, one Browning Hi-Power out and pointed at his heart.

"And what, exactly, did I miss?"

"Like I'm going to tell you." He snorted. Suddenly a hand was around his throat and he was dangling a good three feet off the ground and pinned to the wall. Grabbing the arm holding him up, he struggled against the tight grip for a moment before he stomped the heel of his left boot against the wall and then kicked forward, driving the blade that popped out of the sole of his boot into the vampire's stomach.

Jean Claude's eyes narrowed and suddenly Duo was flying across the room where he crashed into the wall headfirst, instantly knocking him out.

* * *

Groaning, Duo opened his eyes and stared in to the pitch black that surrounded him. Quickly taking stock of himself, he realized that he was leaning against a cold, damp cement wall, chained to it in fact.

His hands were shackled together from mid forearm to fingertips in a type of sheath cuff that would allow no movement of any sort. Shifting his feet, he could feel that he was barefoot and cuffed to the floor by his ankles. There was also a tight metal collar around his throat that kept him chained to the wall behind him. The chains were extremely short and would only allow his head and legs to move about six inches away from the anchors.

There was no way to get to the lock picks he could still feel in his braid. He was well and truly trapped.

"Well, this fucking sucks monkey ass." He muttered to himself and sighed. He could tell that the room he was in, even without his sight, was small, only a few feet across and just slightly deeper.

"I wonder just how long they're going to keep me in here?"

* * *

"I can't find anything on this guy!" Anita said irritably as she searched for anything she could find in the federal database.

"It's like he just appeared out of thin air." Veronica Sims, or Ronnie as her friends called her, groaned as she leaned back from her own laptop. They were sitting in Anita's office at Animator's Inc., where Anita raised the dead for a living. She was also a vampire hunter that had been grandfathered in as a federal marshal.

Sighing, the two women turned back to their computers and continued the search for any information about the long haired man.

Nathaniel sighed as he watched the women work. He was curled up on the couch, alone as the rest of the pard was out.

"I think you guys are over reacting to this." He said quietly.

"You saw what he was carrying. You saw what he did to Richard and everyone else." Anita snapped as she looked up from the screen.

"Yeah, but that was after Richard basically implied that I slept my way into college. And he only hit him once. After that, he was just defending himself and besides…" Nathaniel argued, but was cut off sharply by Anita.

"I don't want to hear it! He nearly disemboweled Jean Claude and he took down three were-wolves! That isn't normal, no matter how you look at it! Not to many people have a damned knife in the bottom of their boot!" Anita shouted and Nathaniel shrank back against the back of the couch.

Nathaniel was pure submissive and threw himself on the floor, shaking in fear as her anger washed over him from their bond. As Anita's animal to call, she had some control over him, even if she hadn't been the leader and protector of the leopard pard.

Shaking and abasing himself, Nathaniel whimpered as he listened for the sound of her footsteps.

There was silence in the room as the two women stared at the man on the floor, even as he waited for his punishment for disagreeing with Anita. Logically, he knew that she wouldn't punish him just for disagreeing with her, but the training of his early childhood, coupled with his submissiveness, chased all thought of that out of his mind, leaving nothing but his terror behind.

After a long moment, Anita stood up and left the room. It was hard for her to see him like that, but at the same time; she had no idea about what she could do to help him. Entering the kitchen, she poured herself a cup of coffee and just leaned against the counter.

Looking up at the sound of a footstep on the linoleum, she saw that a troubled Ronnie had followed her.

"What the hell just happened?" Ronnie asked quietly.

"He doesn't react well to anger. When I snapped at him, it made him thing that he needed to be punished. I don't know how to make him feel better about himself and to stop being so damn submissive all the time. I can't even hurt him like he wants when we have sex. I just can't deal with this right now." Anita said as she waved her coffee cup around in her agitation.

* * *

In the living room, Nathaniel quietly listened in on what the women were saying. Because of being a were, his hearing was excellent and he could clearly hear everything being said.

Silently, he pushed himself up off the floor and left the house. Even thought the house was in the middle of nowhere, he set out for town at a steady, ground eating run. It would take him a while, but he would get back to St. Louis.

* * *

'I wonder when they are going to come for me.' Duo thought to himself as he relaxed as well as he could. With his feet planted firmly on the floor, legs bent and spread, as that was how the chains kept them, with his shackled wrists resting on his knees, he was as comfortable as possible in the time room. It was hardly more than a closet. A small closet at that.

It had been quite a number of hours now and he was completely bored. It had been barely dark when they had reached the restaurant and they had been in there at least ten to fifteen minutes before the vampire had shown up. How long he had been under the spell and then later unconscious, he was unsure, but his internal clock was telling him that he had been awake in the cell for over four hours.

Suddenly, the door was ripped open and a furious form, backed by a bright light that had Duo hissing in pain, was suddenly on him.

"Maxwell, what the fuck did you do now?!" a familiar voice growled even as he was jerked forward by the front of his shirt until his neck was being pulled backwards from the collar, crushing his throat and cutting off his air. He was held like that for a long moment; before the figure shoved him back, nearly crack his head open with the speed that he plowed into the wall at.

Gasping and choking in an attempt to get air down to his lungs, Duo couldn't answer the question. Looking up at the figure in front of him, he could make out that it was a slender guy about his age with messy hair.

Finally getting his breath back enough to speak, he gasped "Love you to, Hee-chan."

"Maxwell…" Heero growled again, his fists clenched.

"Wow, Heero, you're right! It has been a long time since we saw each other. Oh, I'm fine, thank you for asking." Duo said sarcastically as his eyes slowly adjusted.

Heero squatted down in front of him and wrapped one fist in the long braid, twisting it tightly. "What are you doing here? Are the others around as well?"

"The others, ha, why the hell would they? They don't give a shit about me, so why would they be here? And what the hell are you doing here anyway? Come to kill me?" Duo taunted.

He could see the confusion flicker across the Japanese man's face at his words before his hair was abruptly released.

"What the hell has happened?"

"Oh, you know, the usual. You disappeared, Trowa had Catherine tell me to leave him alone, Wufei just won't even acknowledge me, and Quatre thinks that the only reason I would want to see him is for money." Duo said bitterly. "And, like always, just as I get my life going smoothly, I get fucked over. So, where have you been?"

Heero shook his head as he pushed himself to his feet. Without a word, he turned around and left, closing the door behind him.

"What the fucking hell! Yui, you BASTERD!!" Duo screamed after him.

* * *

The echoes of Duo's screamed echoed down the hall after him as Heero went in search of the one person who would know exactly what was going on.

Knocking gently on the door, he was admitted into Jean Claude's office. "Sir, I have a question if you have a moment." He said with a bow.

Jean Claude gestured him into a seat and he settled on the edge of the chair.

"What answers are you seeking, my petit loupe?"

"Why is Duo Maxwell chained to the wall?"

"And how do you know Monsieur Maxwell?" Jean Claude asked with a raised eyebrow.

"We fought together in the war."

Jean Claude knew what Heero had been doing in the war, but he had never heard about his companions. That the person he currently held in a detention cell was Heero's war partner was a complete shock.

"He was one of these… Gundam pilots?"

Heero nodded shortly.

"And how would you rate his danger to us?"

Heero looked at him in silence for a long moment before answering. "He is Shinigami. If you are his enemy, you are already dead and just don't know it yet. But if you are his friend, he will protect you with everything that he has."

Jean Claude nodded thoughtfully, his mind already whirling with ideas to keep Duo close as an ally rather than an enemy.

"Does the boy always keep blades in the soles of his boots?" he asked.

"He carries more weapons than anyone I have ever met." Heero said bluntly.

"Yes, we have noticed that as well." Jean Claude said with a smirk at the memory of the look on Anita's face at the pile of weapons they had found on the boy.

"You might want to let him out soon if you want him to be an ally rather than an enemy. Explain things to him bluntly and he should see reason."

The vampire nodded a dismissal to the teen who stood and left without another word.

"Well, Monsieur Maxwell, let us see what we can do with you."

* * *

Nathaniel trudged down the step into the bowels of the Circus heading directly to where he knew his friend Jason would be at this time of night. Knocking lightly on the door, he was greeted by the welcoming arms of his friend pulling him close for a tight hug before pulling him into the room.

"Nate, what the hell are you doing here? Everyone's worried about you, you know!" Jason exclaimed as he pulled the long haired man down on the bed.

"Anita doesn't want me there. She doesn't know how to deal with me or my issues." Nathaniel whispered as he buried his face in Jason's shoulder.

"You know that's not completely true. She was really worried about you when she called here a little while ago. She couldn't find you and she was worried that something might have happened."

"I couldn't stay there when she wouldn't even listen to what I had to say. I tried to tell her what started it, but all she would focus on was that he hurt Jean Claude and took down the wolves. If you can surprise someone, it doesn't matter about strength. She should know that! And the knife in the boot, I've had a couple friends when I was younger do that!" Nathaniel cried and Jason squeezed him tightly.

"Shhh, it's alright." Jason murmured as he gently petted the long hair. "We'll make her understand, ok? And of course surprise can take down the strongest people. I did it enough when I was younger to know that!"

For a long time, they stayed like that, curled up on the bed. Finally, Nathaniel raised his face from the crook of Jason's shoulder.

"Can I stay here tonight? I don't want to go back to Anita's and I can't go back to the dorm without knowing what happens to Duo."

"That's fine with me." Jason said immediately.

"Thanks."

* * *

Duo blinked as the door was opened again. Looking up into Jean Claude's eyes, he felt a momentary pull, before he hardened his will and looked over the vampire's shoulder instead.

"You have a very strong will power, La Petite Mort." Jean Claude said smoothly, getting a glare from the chained man, which was ignored as he released the shackles and allowed the braided boy to emerge from the tiny room.

"What the hell did you just call me?" Duo snarled, pretty sure already but wanting to be sure.

Jean Claude laughed gently for a moment before replying. "Little Death. I have been assured that you are death from a blue eyed acquaintance of ours."

"Never call me that again. I know that you know what else it stands for!"

"Oui." Jean Claude said with a smirk.

"You fucker! I...!" Duo started to shout before a hand was slammed over his mouth even as a hand twisted itself in his hair and wrenched him back against a hard chest.

"Maxwell, shut up and listen to what he has to say." Heero growled in his ear.

Knowing Heero wouldn't hesitate to fully subdue him if he made a wrong move, Duo just held perfectly still and silent until he was released. Heero gestured for him to walk down the hall and back to Jean-Claude's office.

Realizing that his weapons might still be there, Duo hurried down the hall and into the office. Hi weapons were piled neatly on the desk and he gladly began putting them back where they belonged.

"Now, Monsieur Maxwell, let us discus where to go from here."

"You let me go and leave me alone and that's where we go from here." Duo said mockingly with a fake french accent. Jean-Claude didn't react outwardly, but Duo knew that he wasn't to happy being mocked.

"I am sorry, but you are to dangerous to be allowed to run around on your own."

Instantly, Duo stiffened, his hand inching towards one of his knives. "Excuse me? What the hell makes you think that you can just tell me what to do? I'm not one of your vamps and I'm not one of your animal to call. I'm my own free person damn it!" he growled as he tensed.

"Maxwell." Heero snapped from his position behind Jean-Claude.

"Fuck off, Heero." Duo snapped back as he turned to glare at the Japanese boy. "I came here to get away from everything and go to school and now I'm being recruited by vamps just so that they can keep an eye on me! I don't bow down to ANYONE! You know this Heero. I didn't listen to G and I sure as hell didn't listen to anyone else during the war. There is no fucking way I'm going to listen to this fuck wad just because he wants to keep me close to him!"

His head was suddenly snapped to the side as he staggered, a dark hand print appearing quickly on his cheek. Turning, he glared at impassive midnight blue eyes that stared deeply into his own.

"You will not speak to me and mine that way, child." Jean-Claude said quietly, his tone completely without inflection.

"You do not tell me what to do." Duo growled as he felt a cold wind fill him. The power he had felt since he was a child and had completely suppressed flared up abrupt and spilled out, lashing at the figure in front of him and then filled the room with power.

Suddenly, the door opened and a vampire walked it, face completely blank, his eyes blurry and unfocused. Then another entered, and another, and another, until there was no room left for anymore to come in.

"You will release them now, Maxwell." Jean-Claude said warningly.

"I don't know how I even did it!" Duo gasped, the feeling of controlling the throng of vampires over powering him even as he felt more and more gathering in the hall beyond the door.

Suddenly a rival cold power began taken control over them and pushing his back. Slowly at first and then faster, the vampires were being released from the power and were hightailing it out of the area as fast as they could. Duo didn't resist and was grateful that he was losing control of them. Timidly, he began to try and pull the power back. It resisted, but eventually he managed to lock it down again.

Once the last vampire slipped out of the room, Anita stalked in, a thunder cloud on her face. "What the hell is going on here?!"

* * *

"So let me get this straight, you have never raised a corpse before, even though you are a natural necromancer, who would, with training, might be even stronger than I am?" Anita snapped angrily as she glared at the long haired boy that reminded her of Nathaniel.

"Pretty much." Duo growled back. He was pissed. Ever since she had entered the room, she had been treating him like a criminal she was interrogating.

"I don't believe you! With that much power something should have happened before now!!" she screamed at him.

"I may run and hide, but I NEVER tell a lie!" he shouted back. "I always pushed the power down when I felt it!"

"Well then, you must have some pretty strong fucking will power then because it is impossible to control it without training!!!"

"Well guess what, bitch, I don't have any training and I did control it. For as long as I can remember, I've been fighting it. You don't fuck around with unknown shit when you are on a colony. A friend of mine was a pyrokinetic and he almost put a hole in the side of the colony when he was eight. Do you think I would take a chance and maybe kill everyone on the colony just to see what this weird ass power was?" Duo whispered harshly as he got up in her face.

"Back off Maxwell." Heero snapped as he stepped forward.

Duo didn't even say anything as he threw a punch at Heero, who caught it easily, but didn't catch the boot that caught him between the legs. He didn't even flinch at the sudden pain though he did clamp down on the fist still in his grip, nearly crushing the hand. "Back off." He growled threateningly.

"Let go of my hand, now." Duo shot back, his eyes practically glowing in rage and pain.

Heero abruptly released the hand and stepped back. He had never seen Duo like this, his rage almost a physical force.

"I think…" Jean-Claude started to say, but was cut off as the door slammed open and a worried Nathaniel launched himself at Duo.

"Duo, are you ok? What happened? Are you hurt? I was so worried about you!" he babbled as he wrapped himself around his target and buried his face in Duo's neck and just breathed his sent in.

"I'm fine, Nate. Just calm down." Duo said soothingly as he petted the long heavy braid.

"What the hell are you doing Nathaniel? Get away from him immediately!" Anita shouted, causing Nathaniel to flinch and wrench himself away from Duo and into a corner where he stood shaking and shivering harshly.

Duo just took a step forward and slammed his good hand into her face. She stumbled back and then grabbed her gun out of the holster. As she was bringing her arm up, strong arms wrapped around her from behind and dragged her away from him.

"Let me go!" she shouted as she writhed, trying to escape.

"You need to calm down." Micah snapped as he dragged her back. He and Jason had followed Nathaniel into the room just in time to see the boy's reaction to her words.

"Get off of me!" she shouted and then suddenly Jean-Claude was there.

"Perhaps you should take her home." He said and Micah nodded as he began to drag her away. Once she was out of the room and the door closed on her screaming, Jean-Claude focused on the pair of long haired boys in the corner. Nathaniel had slid down until he was huddled on the floor, even as Duo was talking soothingly to him and stroking his hair.

When the shaking had stopped and he had relaxed somewhat, Duo looked up with a glare and said, "No one had better have touched Deathscythe."

"Your bike is fine." Heero said as he watched his ex-partner. "I moved it here earlier."

"You bastard! You know better than to touch my things! Especially after you stole the parts from my buddy!"

"It is fine, Maxwell." Heero growled as he tossed Duo's keys to him.

"If there is one mark on my baby, you are going to pay Heero."

Without another look at any of the others in the room, Duo turned to Nathaniel and said softly, "Come on, lets go find my bike and we'll get out of here, ok?"

Nodding, Nathaniel stood up and let Duo lead him out the door. Once past the threshold, he led Duo to the parking lot where everyone parked.

Behind them in the room, Jean-Claude turned to Heero.

"Your friend is very powerful and he needs training."

"Hn."

"I will make sure he has the training he needs."

Jason just shook his head. He had only met Duo once and even he knew that this plan wouldn't end well.

* * *

Duo easily found his bike in the lot and checked her over briefly before handing the helmet to Nathaniel to put on. Without a work, they both got on and Duo kick started the bike before roaring away towards their dorm. Nathaniel just clung tightly to him and closed his eyes.

The ride was short and before they knew it, Duo was parking in his assigned spot at the dorm. The walked up to their room and Duo unlocked the door, ushering the other boy in before shutting and locking it behind them.

He brought the boy over to the hammock and settled them both in it, him on his back and Nathaniel curled up against him.

"There is something so familiar about you." Duo whispered after a while of just cuddling the distraught boy.

"I know I feel it too. Like I knew you a long time ago." Nathaniel whispered so softly, Duo could barely hear it.

"Maybe we did."

"Maybe."

A/N

Wow, it's been a while!It's been a very crazy past couple of months. Between work, the kids, and my uncle dieing, it's been really hard to find the time to write. But here it it! (finally!!!)

Lol, I have to apologize to every one who was waiting for this chapter. It has been finished for weeks and I had thought I had published it already. It wasn't until I was reading through the new reviews that I realized that they were all for chapter 1! I'm so sorry, but here it is and I am working on the next chapter.

Shinigami-chan


	3. Chapter 3

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Chapter 3

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Duo sighed as he closed the door to the dorm behind him and dropped his bag on the ground.

"Long day today?" Nate asked as he looked up from his desk where he was working on some homework. Only having a half day of classes that day, he was well into working on an essay for one of his classes.

"I just don't understand Mr. Huffman! He tells us that we need to read roughly 400 pages and then springs a quiz the next day! And then the quiz literally has stuff from chapters that we aren't supposed to read for another two months!" Duo complained as he dropped onto his hammock and relaxed as it swung gently from the force.

Chuckling, Nate closed his laptop and stretched backwards to work out some kinks in his back before standing and walking over to his roommate. Flopping boneless as only a cat could do, he stretched out half on and half next to Duo, who simply shifted and wrapped his arm around Nate.

"I wouldn't worry about it to much. He does things like that to see who reads ahead and applies themselves to their studies. I hear it's because before he started doing that, a lot of people were just coasting through the course and then failing the final. This way, he can weed out the ones looking for an easy grade and help the ones who really want to pass."

"Well then, I'm glad that I read everything ahead of time as soon as I found out what books I need for my courses."

"And it doesn't hurt that you have a photographic memory either!"

Chuckling, Duo ruffled Nate's loose hair.

"Knock it off or I'm going to start pulling on the braid!" Nate cried as grabbed the braid and glared threateningly, though a grin was tugging at his lips.

"Do it and die little man!" Duo exclaimed in mock horror.

"Little! You are as short as I am!"

And it was true. They had the same height, build, and even similar features. If you only caught a glimpse, and sometimes even a longer look, it was hard to tell who was who.

After the laughter wound down, Nate sat up and looked soberly at Duo. "I know that you don't like Anita, Jean Claude, and the others, but I want to get us tested."

Duo blinked in confusion for a moment. "Tested for what? What do they have to do about getting tested for something?"

Licking his lips nervously, Nate said in nearly a whisper, "I want to see if we are related."

Duo gazed at him for a long moment before nodding slowly. "I can see how it would include them. They are as close to a family that you have had for a long time."

Nate nodded nervously as he looked down at his hands as they plucked nervously at the blanket.

"Ok then. Give them a call, though I would prefer if you only called Micah. He's the only one I haven't clashed with lately." Duo said as he reached over and plucked up Nate's phone and handed it to him and then drew out his own phone. "If you don't mind though, I want to go to a friend to have it done. I trust her explicitly and she won't mind that you are a were-leopard."

Nate nodded as he began dialing Micah's number and then listened to it ring. After a few rings, Micah answered with his calm deep voice.

"_Hello Nathaniel. Is anything wrong?"_

"No, Micah, nothings wrong, but I wanted to ask a favor of you. A couple in fact"

"_Sure. What can I help you with?"_

"You remember Duo, my roommate?"

"_Of course. Anita still doesn't like him!"_ Micah chuckled.

"Yeah, I know." Nate said as he rolled his eyes. "Anyway, we wanted to get tested to see if we are related."

"_And you want me to A: Not tell Anita or the others; and B: Go with you. Right?"_

"Yes. That is exactly it. Please?" Nate begged softly.

"_Of course I will. Where were you planning on going to have it done?"_

"I'm not sure. Duo has a friend who can do it that he trusts, and he says she won't mind what I am."

"_Wonderful. Just give me a call with the details and I will be there for you."_

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

As Nate called Micah, Duo dialed the number of the only doctor that he trusted.

"_Hello, this is Dr. Po."_

"Hey Sally, how's it hanging babe?" Duo said with a grin.

"_Duo! I haven't heard from you in months! What did you do to yourself now?"_ Sally asked suspiciously.

"Nothing! I swear I'm fine!" he protested.

"_You only call me babe when you need me to help you." _She said back, a grin in her voice.

"I do not! Last time I called I wished you a happy birthday!"

"_And then asked me to stitch up a knife wound on your back that your couldn't reach."_

"Pure coincidence."

Laughing, they both grinned on their ends.

"Ok, I did call you for more than just shooting the breeze." Duo said quietly. "I have a favor to ask of you."

"_What's wrong Duo?"_

"Nothing bad, but I think I might have found some family and I wanted you to run the tests for us."

"_That's wonderful! You get your ass down here now and I'll run the tests immediately!"_ she exclaimed happily.

"There is just one thing. He is a were-leopard."

"_That's no problem, you know my sister is a wolf. You tell him to don't worry and get over here. I'm at the Preventors base in New York right now. How soon can you be here?"_ She asked.

"We'll book a flight out and be there tomorrow. Thanks Sally, you are the best!"

"_I know, now go book your flight. I see you tomorrow!"_

After exchanging farewells, they hung up and he turned to Nate, who was still chatting with Micah. "Ok, it's all set for tomorrow. We'll need to fly to New York and meet her at her work. I'm paying for everything, so don't worry about it." Nate relayed that and Micah, who agreed, and then hung up.

"Do you think we are related?" Nate asked quietly as he snuggled into Duo's shoulder.

"Yes, actually, I do. At least, I hope so! I've always wanted a little brother!" Duo laughed and received a swat to his chest.

"Who says I'm the younger one?" Nate asked archly.

"Obviously I am older as I am so much more good looking, and smart and have the best sense of humor and…!" He was cut off as a pillow was ripped out from under his head and then beaten with it.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

As Nate went to inform the office that the both of them were going to be gone for a few days, Duo settled on his laptop and pulled up the flight schedule for the nearby airport. After careful deliberation, he called, Micah, Nate had left his phone in the room in his hurry to the office.

"Hello? Is anything wrong Nathaniel?" Micah asked as he answered the phone.

"Sorry, this is Duo."

"Duo! Is everything ok with Nathaniel?"

"He's fine, I just wanted to check and see how soon you could be ready to leave."

"I can be ready to leave in half an hour. I take it the flight is soon?"

"Yes. There is a flight that leaves in about 3 hours and if we don't catch that one, then the next one isn't until about 3 in the morning and let's face it, we aren't vamps here." Duo said with a chuckle.

"No we aren't, are we?" Micah laughed softly.

"Meet us at the airport as soon as possible. I'll pay for your car to park there until we get back. I'm shipping my motorcycle with us as I refuse to use a rental car. I'll arrange for a car or something for you when we get there, or I can have Howard drop off my old bike for you to use while we are there. He's in the neighborhood and hung onto it for me when I build this one."

"The bike would be fine."

After exchanging farewells, they hung up and Duo turned back to the computer. Quickly booking three seats and arranging for the bike to be put into the cargo area, he sent off a quick message to Howard, who agreed to bring the bike to the airport for him.

Just as he finished, Nate ran back into the room and slammed the door behind him.

"Whoa, what's got your tail in a knot?" Duo asked as he jumped to his feet.

"I got the approval for four days. That's enough time, right?" Nate asked as he bounded over to the closet and pulled out two bags, Duo's black backpack and his own gray one.

"More than enough. I called Micah while you were gone and he's going to meet us at the airport. Our plane leaves in three hours so pack fast, we need to get going." Duo said as he started pulling out clothes from his dresser. "And pack some club clothes. We are going to have a night on the Big Apple when we get the results back. I figure if we are related, celebrate! And if we are not, get our minds off it."

Laughing softly, Nate didn't respond, but just began packing his bag.

Once they were packed, they locked up the room and headed for the parking lot at a trot. "It will take about 45 minutes to get to the airport and about an hour and a half to get Deathscythe loaded into the cargo area and to go through security. Micah is meeting us out front, so we need to hurry." Duo said as he loaded the bags into the compartments and hopped on the bike. Handing Nate his helmet, he kick started the engine and pulled his sunglasses on.

"Ok, I'm ready." Nate said as he got a firm grip on Duo's waist.

"Then lets blow this Popsicle stand!"

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Micah looked up as he heard the deep-throated growl of Duo's motorcycle. He had only just got there so he hadn't been waiting long and he chuckled softly as the massive bike whipped around a corner, making the people around him gasp in shock and stop to watch the "Crazy Girls" on the bike as one little old lady said as she stopped next to him to hale a taxi.

Instead of the expected taxi, though, the bike came to a screeching stop right in front of them.

"Duo, Nathaniel, you really should go a little slower in the airport. You don't want to run someone over, do you?" Micah asked and heard the old lady gasp as she realized that it was two _men_ on the bike.

"Do it one time and you never let it go!" Duo said with a grin at the old lady who looked like she was going to faint.

Nate just laughed and hit him in the shoulder saying, "Knock it off Duo. You haven't run over anyone."

"What makes you so sure?" Duo asked poking him.

"I haven't smelled any blood on the bike for one."

The poor old lady suddenly fainted, causing Duo and Nate to laugh even as Micah caught her and waved a nearby employee over to take her.

"You two are terrible! Terrorizing old people, shame on you." He said causing the boys top laugh even more. "Come on you two, we need to get the bike loaded and get our tickets before we miss the flight."

Flagging down another employee, the motorcycle was quickly taken care of and they were on their way to the gate, tickets in hand with plenty of time to go through security.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

The three men exited the airport doors in New York stretching and trying to work out the stiffness from the 3-hour flight. "So how are we going to get to the hotel?" Nate asked as he looked at Duo.

"A friend of mine should have dropped off some transport for Micah…. And speak of the devil, there it is!" Duo exclaimed as he rushed forwards and threw his arms around an old, balding man wearing sunglasses and a Hawaiian shirt. "Howard! How's it going! I wasn't expecting you to come out yourself!"

"Of course I would, kid, when you are loaning one of your babies out to someone I don't know!" Howard said with a laugh as Duo released him.

"Howard, this is Nate and Micah. Micah is the one who is going to use the bike. Guys, this is Howard, the best damn mechanic and sweeper that you will ever meet besides me." Duo said as he introduced everyone.

"Damn, child, you look like a lighter version of the kid." Howard said, as he looked Nate over.

"That's why we're here, to find out if we are related." Duo said as Nate smiled timidly at the older man.

"You better keep me up to date with that." Howard said and Duo nodded. "Well, I need to get back to the ship, we're shoving off in about 20 minutes. Later kids!"

"He called us kids?" Nate said bewildered.

"That actually surprised me too. He must like both of you to include you in the kids. Not many get that privilege." Duo said wonderingly.

Shaking his head, he turned to Micah, who was already checking out the bike. "So what do you think of my baby?"

"She looks great. I take it you are very protective of your bikes?" Micah asked as an attendant wheeled 'Scythe over to them.

"You better believe it. That baby was built from scratch. All the best parts and custom made. I've been building bikes since I was a kid and according to Howie, I could sell them for mucho credits. I don't think I would though. I would have to know the person who was getting it to make sure they would take care of it." Duo said as he ran a loving hand down the shiny black paint job.

"I don't blame you a bit." Micah said as he settled on to the seat. "She's beautiful."

"Thank you." Duo said as he headed over to his monster where Nate was already getting settled. "Just follow me to the hotel and be careful, she will go 0 to 150 in less than 15 seconds."

With that, he kick started 'Scythe and Micah followed suite and they took off into the darkened streets of the city that never sleeps.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

The pair of motorcycles roared into the Preventer parking lot and parked in spaces near the door. As they dismounted, Nate looked around at the gaping agents that had stopped what they were doing to stare and hunched in on himself.

Noticing, Duo turned to look at what had caused the reaction and a scowl formed on his face when he saw the numerous people. "Mind your own damn business, assholes!" he shouted with a glare and immediately, the agents turned away. Turning back to the others, he was about to say something to Nate, whom was wrapped in Micah's arms reassuringly, but a hand clamped down on his shoulder and spun him around.

"Maxwell! What the hell do you think you are doing here? You are not a Preventor, nor are you a consultant." Wufei snapped with a scowl.

"Fuck off Chang. It's not your damn business what I am doing here." Duo growled as he threw off the hand from his shoulder. With that, he ushered Micah and Nate towards the entrance, leaving a gaping Wufei behind.

As the trio disappeared through the doors, one though went through Wufei's mind.

'What the hell happened to Duo?'

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

After checking in with the main desk, Duo and the others were ushered into the elevator and directed to the 29th floor where they were greeted at the elevator by a smiling Sally Po.

"Duo! I'm so glad to see you in one piece!" she exclaimed as she wrapped him in a tight hug as the others laughed, Nate relaxing minutely at the friend welcome his friend had received.

"And this must be the possible family! You two look like twins!" she exclaimed as she wrapped a startled Nate in a hug of his own. "And you are?" she asked with a smile as she offered Micah her hand.

"Micah." he said with an easy smile as he shook her hand firmly.

"You must be his Nimir-Raj." she said with a smile as she saw how close Nate was standing to him.

"How did you know?" Nate asked, his eyes wide.

"Duo mentioned you were a were-leopard and with how you are standing close, submissively at that, and the feeling both of you are giving off, it wasn't that hard to figure out. Also, my sister is a wolf, so when I found out, I investigated everything about were's that I could." Sally said with a gentle smile.

"You sister? What clan is she from?" Nate asked quietly.

"The Emerald Forrest Pack." she answered and Micah nodded.

"The clan leader Killian just sent me a message about joining the coalition."

"Sarah was tell me about that. I think it's a wonderful idea! So many new shifters need help and not many are willing to help them." she said as she ushered them into her office.

"We just want to help as many as we can." Micah said with a gentle smile as they sat down in the chairs scattered around the office.

"Now, to find out if you are related!" Sally said as she pulled her kit towards her. "I'll need to take some blood from each of you and I will do the tests myself. That will take about 45 minutes, so while I am doing that, why don't you guys go and get some lunch down in the cafeteria? Also, Duo, Lady Une would like to talk to you before you go, ok? I think she wants you to join us here."

"No offense, but hell no!" Duo exclaimed.

"Why not? You could do so much good with us!" Sally asked as she slipped a needle into his arm. "Wufei is a full agent and Trowa and Quatre are both special agents who are only called in for special assignments. We would have asked Heero, but no one can find him."

"When the war ended, I swore I wouldn't join. I wanted a regular life, not one of endless battles." he said and she nodded in understanding.

"You don't have to be an active agent, you could be a trainer. The better trained our agents are, the better that they can do their jobs. In fact, how would you three like to try our course? No pressure, but I would love for some of the agents to be shown how a real warrior does things. Wufei will only do it when there is no one else around and some of our other agents feel that they are the best." Sally said with a grimace.

"What do you think, guys? Want to show these idiots how Gundam pilots and weres can handle a course?" Duo asked and Nate and Micah laughed as they had been running one at home for the last few months in an attempt to help Nate gain confidence.

"Sure, why not?" Nate said as Sally took a vile of his blood.

"Ok, I'll call the guy in charge of the course and have him get it ready for you." she said as she labeled the vile and put it in the rack next to Duo's. Grabbing the phone, she placed a quick call and then turned back. "Sargent Tonks is ready for you. Take the elevator to sub level 4 and make a right. It's the door all the way at the end. The observation booths are the doors leading up to it and Tonks is having the worst of the egomaniacs there to watch so do your best. The cafeteria is on level 7 so when you are done, I'll meet you there, ok? I haven't had lunch yet so we'll have a bite before coming back up here to view the results."

"That's fine. Just warn the caf staff that we eat a lot!" Duo said with a laugh as he stood up along with the others.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Wufei hurried into his office and sat down behind the desk. Turning on the vidphone, he quickly dialed an extension. "Come on, pick up." he muttered to himself as he waited for someone to answer. Finally the screen came to life showing Trowa's face looking out at him.

"_Hello."_

"Trowa, Quatra around?" Wufei asked bluntly.

"_Yes, one moment."_ Trow said with a frown as he turned to someone off screen. _"Quatre, Wufei asked for both of us."_

"_What is wrong, Wufei?"_ Quatre asked as he joined Trowa in front of the screen.

"What happened to Maxwell?" Wufei asked bluntly, causing both boys to blink in surprise.

"_What do you mean?"_ Quatre asked confusion.

"What I mean is that he showed up here with two guys and when I asked him what he was doing here he told me, and I quote, to "Fuck off Chang. It's none of my damn business what he was doing here".

"_Duo called you Chang? Not Wu-man, or Fei or anything else?"_ Quatre asked in shock.

"No, it was Chang." Wufei growled.

"_What did you do to him?"_ Trowa asked bluntly.

"What do you mean, "what did I do to him"?

"_What happened the last time you saw him?"_ Quatre asked.

"I brushed his arm off my shoulder like normal." Wufei said shortly.

"_Anything else?"_

"I didn't answer his letters or messages." Wufei said after a moment's thought.

"_Well, that's probably what happened." _Quatre said with a shrug.

"And what did you do the last time you saw him?" Wufei snapped.

"_I didn't talk to him. Cathy told him for me that I was trying to put my past behind me."_ Trowa said with an arched eyebrow.

"You sent Cathy, the person who can't stand him, out to tell him to go away because you were putting the past behind you? When you were doing no such thing?" Wufei demanded.

"_It wasn't any of his business what I was doing."_ Trowa said simply.

"_Why?"_ Quatre asked, a small frown on his face.

"_He probably just wanted something from me. Why should I give him anything?" _Trowa said bluntly.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Wufei demanded. "What could he possibly want from you? He had plenty of money that he hacked out of OZ accounts during the war to last him the rest of his life even if he tried to live like a movie star."

"_I was told that he wasted it all and was looking for hand outs."_ Trowa said calmly.

"Hold on a minute." Wufei said as he turned to his computer and started checking things. After a few minutes of typing, he turned back and addressed the others with his findings.

"In just what I could pull up, he had more than $3.8 billion, both monetary and in properties all over the world. He has invested in the Stock Market. He has given donations to dozens of charities and even started a couple orphanages both on the colonies and on earth. He is currently going to school in St. Louis and has paid the full tuition for his entire education. He also designs security programs and is helping something called the Coalition in St. Louis. I don't think he wanted anything from you." Wufei growled and the others blinked in shock.

"_But from what I heard, he had nothing! He was just a lazy, wasteful guy that squandered everything and was mooching off his friends!"_ Quatre exclaimed.

"From who? Who told you both that? And he didn't have friends besides Howard and the Sweepers."

"_You didn't think he was a friend?"_ Quatre asked slowly, ignoring the question for a moment.

"No, he was a comrade. That is all."

"_He considered all of us his friends."_ Quatre said bluntly.

"And what did you do to him?" Wufei asked with narrowed eyes.

"_When he came to see me, I offered him a check of a million dollars and told him to make something out of his life."_ Quatre said after a moment.

"So, I brushed him off, Trowa wouldn't even talk to him, and you tried to pay him off." Wufei said before he asked again, "Who told you that stuff about him?"

"_I heard it from Cathy after she came back from a visit with Relena."_ Trowa said quietly.

"_Relena mentioned it when we were on a way to a meeting about the Preventers when they were first starting up." _Quatre said with a frown on his face.

"So both of you basicly got it from the girl who thinks he took Heero away from her and you trusted it?" Wufei asked in shock.

Trowa and Quatre exchanged a long glance before turning back to him, but before they could say anything, a head popped into Wufei's, office.

"Sir, you have to come see this! These three guys who aren't even agents are going to tackle the course! It's going to be a slaughter! And get this, two of the guys have these really long braids and the other one is pretty damn short!" the agent said before he ran off towards the elevator.

"I'll meet you down there." Wufei said quickly to the others who nodded before cutting the connection and hurrying out of the office.

He just caught the elevator as it was closing and squeezed on. Everyone apparently wanted to catch the action.

Finally reaching the training floor, he hurried out and met up with the other two as they exited the stairwell."It's a good thing we came in today to finish up some paperwork!" Quatre exclaimed as they entered one of the observation booths, locking the door behind them so that no one would interrupt their conversation.

They looked out the window down at the three figures at the start of the course who were stretching.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Duo laughed as he finished stretching. "Nate, look at the crowds in those booths! Damn, I think almost every agent must be there!"

"Um, I don't think..." he started to say, but Duo cut him off.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine! This is just like the course that I made back home. Just remember, pace yourself and go for it!"

"Duo is right, ignore them. Just focus on us and the course and block everything else out. We will be right beside you." Micah said soothingly and Nate nodded. All three were dressed in camouflaged pants with black t-shirts that they had been provided so that they wouldn't get their other clothes dirty.

"Are you ready now?" Tonks asked as he approached the trio. He has a big man, easily towering over them, with huge muscles and an easy grace that spoke of his training.

"We're good to go!" Duo exclaimed as he laid a hand on Nate's shoulder and squeezed gently.

"We have spotters in some of the difficult places just in case anything happens to you." Tonks said and turned away to head off to a point where he could see the entire course.

They settled themselves into a start position and when the whistle blew they took off. They ran straight for the first obstacle , the wall and launched themselves at it, all three grabbing the top at the same time and easily hauling them selves over the wall as if it was nothing. Dropping to the other side they took off for the next challenge, the cargo net climb. They swarmed up the rope and crossed the monkey bars and then climbed down the next cargo net.

Taking off at dead sprint, they tackled the hurdles neck and neck, then dove onto their stomachs where they slithered under the barbed wire like eels. Pulling themselves up they darted into the zig zag and blew through them easily.

The next section was the rope climb where the climbed the rope to the platform on top where they then had to climb a ladder even higher and then climb down another rope back to the ground. Once back on the ground, it was a dead sprint to the finish line where they had one final task to do, the parallel bars. Micah and Nate reached them first, but Duo flipped himself up and over so fast he beat them by a full 2 seconds.

"Duo, one minute eight seconds." Tonks called out with a small grin on his face. "Nathaniel and Micah, tied at one minute ten seconds." Turning to the observation windows, he called out, "That is the very best time that has ever been seen in this facility and has, in fact, broken the current company record held by Special Agent Barton, who I see is here today. You boys want to give it a try and see if you can even get near it?"

Duo looked up at the windows above him when he heard the name Barton and sure enough, Trowa was there standing next to both Wufei and Quatre. Turning away sharp enough to make his braid fly out, he marched over to Nate and Micah and said quietly, "Let's get out of here and go spar. I need to work off some more energy.

Nate, having heard all about the other Gundam pilots and what they had done to Duo, glared up at the trio in the window before nodding to Duo and started for the door. "Lets go. I think I need to as well."

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

"Yes, he is truly a lazy, good for nothing bum, isn't he?" Wufei said quietly as they watched the three on the floor head towards the mats set up in the corner for sparring.

"Wow, all three of them beat your time Trowa! I didn't think it was possible!" Quatre exclaimed as he turned towards the taller man.

"I think we have misjudged him. Badly." Trowa said quietly.

The quietly watched as Duo bowed to the other long haired man before the spar began in earnest.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Micah watched as the two younger men went at it on the mats in full fledged street fight. Both had grown up on the streets. Both had had to make hard decisions. Both fought with a passion to survive, even in a friendly spar. The two of them were like mirror images of each other and Micah just hoped that they were related, some how, some way.

Watching Duo duck a kick that would have taken his head off, Micah frowned as he saw the fight get more and more brutal. "Boys, take it easy. If you kill each other now, you won't find out if you are related."

At first it didn't seem like they had heard, but slowly, the fight came to a halt leaving both teens sweat drenched with bruises forming in various places. "Hit the showers and we'll go meet Sally." Micah ordered and they headed for the showers. Just as Micah was about to follow them, a movement caught his eye and turning his head slightly, he say three boys about Duo's age heading towards him.

He stopped in the doorway as they approached and turned to face the squarely. "What can I do for you?" he asked politely as they stopped in front of him.

"Move, we want to speak with Maxwell." the chinese agent snapped as he glared at him.

"Well, seeing how he reacted to you earlier and how he reacted after the course when he caught sight of the three of you, I'm going to have to ask you to leave him and us along." Micah said flatly.

"Who do you think you are? Get out of my way or I'll have you removed from head quarters." Wufei snarled.

"I think I am a guest who is here to support two friends. I think that I am trying to get Duo to calm down before he comes after you for what ever reason he has. I think that if you have an official reason for wanting to speak with him, I will step aside, but seeing as there isn't, I will not." Micah growled, his cat eyes flashing with anger.

"Come on, Wufei, we'll catch up with him later." Quatre said as he tugged the them away and towards the exit.

Once they were gone, he turned back to enter the door and looked a shocked Duo straight in the eye and said, "I don't know hat happened between you and them, but anything I can do to help, be it an ear to listen with or anything, just let me know."

"Thanks Micah." Duo said after a long pause. Then a grin poked out. "You better go get ready. We still have to meet with Sally and I still have a meeting with the psycho bitch from hell!"

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

On the way to the cafeteria, the swung by Lady Une's office and spoke with her for a moment. Duo flat out refused to join and she nodded, not looking happy, but still understanding.

Entering the eatery, Duo looked around and spotted Sally eating by herself and he and the other two hurriedly piled food on their trays and headed for the table.

"Hey, sorry it took so long!" Duo exclaimed as he shoved a huge piece of meat in his mouth.

"I only got here a few minutes ago anyway." she replied with a smile as she watched the three down their food hurriedly. She could tell that they were dieing to ask her about the results, but that they didn't want to broach the subject in a crowded cafeteria. With a chuckle, she hurriedly ate the last few bites of her spaghetti and started clearing the table as the guys quickly finished.

In moments they were on the way back to her office, Nate nervously clutching Duo's hand while Duo himself was gnawing on the end tuff of his braid. Micah had a hand on each of their shoulders and they looked like a family standing together like that. Or like a Pard, as if the leopards had adopted Duo as an honorary member.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

AN: Look, I'm not dead! I feel like I am though! (sigh)

I'm life is a never ending hell lately. If it's not something to do with my kids, it's something to do with work. I am at my wits end! All I want to do is have one day to myself where I can just curl up, by myself, no kids or anyone, and just relax. I took my birthday off (it was Wednesday) from work and sent the kids to daycare and did nothing but run around and do errands all day! And on top of all the stress from the kids and work, my new car I bought in March is broken! Well, the drivers door is. The latch is busted and the door is currently being held closed by a bungee cord. I really hate my life.

Now that I have got that rant off my chest, sorry about that, I'll mention that I typed this entire 15 page chapter in ONE DAY! I'M SO PROUD OF MYSELF! I haven't done that in years now! Usually when I type its a couple words or pages at a time. But I typed this up in one shot! Now I hoped you enjoyed it. Tell me what you think!

Shinigami-chan


	4. AN

Well, as you can see, this is not a chapter. I am working on it though! I'm just having problems finding time to write.

Anyway, the whole reason I am posting this is to let you guys know I have a poll up on my page. It's to decide who Duo will be paired with in this story. He will NOT be with any of the G-boys, sorry. The choices are Jason, Asher, Damian, London, Shang-Da, Jamil, Edward, or Wicked/Truth. If wicked/Truth wins, he will not be with both of them. He will be with one and Nathaniel will be with the other. LOL, I have to admit, I am want Wicked/Truth to win as I can just see Duo with Wicked.

But I am leaving the choice up to you guys.

So go to my profile and vote! I will (hopefully) have the next chapter up within the next few weeks.

Shinigami-chan


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

As the trio stood nervously in front of Sally's desk, she smiled reassuringly at them. "Why doing you guys sit down ok?" she suggested soothingly and Duo and Nate plopped down, though Micah stayed standing behind them, one hand on each shoulder.

"Now, I ran the tests about four times to make absolutely sure before I told you the results." She began and if possible, Duo and Nate tensed even more. "Relax you two!"

"I'm sorry, but can you just tell us already?" Duo exclaimed as he clutched at Nate's hand.

Chuckling, she opened her mouth to respond when the entire building shuddered and a loud alarm went off, startling all of them.

"What the hell is going on?" Duo shouted as he jumped to his feet.

"_Attention all agents. There has been a breach at the front entrance."_

"Shit!" Duo spun on his heel and darted out the door, the other three right behind him. The four of them dashed into the stairwell and down the flights of stairs, Nate and Duo in the lead, Micah keeping pace with the doctor.

They stopped at the door to the lobby and cracked it open to see what was going on before they charged in.

Nate gasped in shock as they saw weres in both human and animal form attacking Preventors. The front doors had been blown open and there were agents scattered on the floor alive, but bleeding from both claw and fang marks.

"They aren't killing anyone! They are just converting!" He exclaimed, throwing a shocked look at the others. "Why would they do that?"

"I don't know, but we need to stop them." Duo growled angrily. "Sally, you see if you can get anyone out. Micah, I want you to protect her."

"Got it." Sally said and Micah nodded grimly as he shifted into a half form.

"Nate, I want you to back me up, ok?" Duo asked and Nate nodded jerkily. Before they moved, Sally took her badge off of her neck and put it around Nate's.

"The chain is long enough that if you have to shift, it won't choke you and at least this way, the agents will know that you are on their side and not one of the enemy." She said and Nate shot her a grateful look as he slipped it over his head.

Silently, the quartet slipped though the door and split up. Duo and Nate headed for where they could see a group of agents huddled behind the customer service desk firing at a group that was trying to get to them. Micah and Sally headed for the front of the lobby to try and get the downed agents to safety.

Duo fired into the crowed of weres and yelled for the agents to get out of there even as Nate shifted into his leopard form and slashed at a wolf that tried to charge Duo.

A couple of the agents made a break for it and got some support as reinforcements appeared and laid down a cover of bullets.

Suddenly, a wolf howled, gaining everyone's attention. The fighting stopped and suddenly all the weres in both forms were heading right for the wolf. As soon as they were gathered, every single one turned their attention to Duo, completely ignoring the agents and even Nate who was right next to him.

"Oh, shit. This was a trap!" Duo muttered to himself as he slammed a new clip into his gun and drew a long knife from his right leg. "But was it just for me or for all the pilots?"

The wolf that had howled barked sharply and about a dozen weres broke from the group and dashed towards him. They weren't just wolves though. Lions, tigers, panthers, leopards, even a bear were in the mix as well as a couple wolves.

Nate lept in front of Duo snarling and was quickly pounced on by another leopard that was larger and more muscled than he was. The two rolled around clawing and biting as they fought for top position.

The other weres never hesitated as they continued to stalk their prey. Some of the agents tried to come help, but were rounded up by the rest of the group of weres and kept out of the way.

Duo began firing into the advancing group wounding many of them, but as the bullets were not silver, it only served to enrage them. Tucking the spent gun away, he drew another long knife and prepared himself to meet the weres as they sprang at him.

Wufei, Trowa, and Quatre watched in shock from their vantage point as the group of weres attacked Duo. They were in even more shock, as Duo became a virtual whirlwind of slashing blades. While it wasn't the structured forms of a martial artist like Wufei, it was just as affective. It kept the weres at bay for a long while, as every time they tried to attack, they would be sliced up. Unfortunately as the blades weren't silver, they didn't stay injured long.

"No!" exclaimed Quatre as the bear muscled it's way thought Duo's defense by way of it's size. There was a number of wounds that appeared on the were, including the loss of one eye, but it ignored the injuries and slammed a huge paw down on duo's chest.

Duo's scream of pain as the claws dug deep into his chest rang through the air, stilling everything as everyone awake turned to stare, the weres in eagerness, and the agents in despair.

The three pilots dashed from their hiding spot towards the group surrounding Duo, but they were cut off by the larger group of weres. They, too, were surrounded, separated and then taken down by the weres.

Duo gasped in pain as the bear removed his paw from his chest, dragging it slightly to make the wounds larger. He still couldn't move, though, as over half of his ribs were broken. Suddenly, a wolf darted up and sank its teeth into his left arm, ripping it open, before darting back. The lion clawed his right thigh while the tiger swiped its claws across his left shoulder. Both backed away, as a panther slunk forward and clawed the back of his left leg as he struggled to roll himself into a ball to protect himself.

Suddenly there was a loud feline shriek of pain that caught everyone's attention. The sound died off into a wet gurgle as the leopard Nate had been fighting died, its throat torn out.

Nate shook himself roughly before he darted his way though the motionless weres around Duo to stand protectively over the huddled form. Growling, he prepared himself to protect him, only to have Micah, still in his half form, join him.

"What is the meaning of this?" he growled threateningly and the weres backed off slightly as a man dressed in ragged clothes with long greasy blond hair stepped forward.

"It's the revolution for all weres! We are tired of being put down and suppressed by these filth humans! We are superior to them in every way! Let their heroes be one of us and they will have to change their ways!" The man shouted. He would have continued, but he was cut off by a weak chuckle.

Looking around, they discovered that it was Duo who was laughing. He had managed to get himself to his feet with the help of Nate and now stood hunched over, laughing.

"God, you are stupid!" He said causing the man to scowl and open his mouth, but he was cut off as Duo continued.

"This isn't going to help your cause. In fact, I would say it made it a hell of a lot worse for not only you stupid fucks, but for all weres! You attacked the Preventors, injuring, if not killing, a ton of innocent people, making them into weres against their wills, in an attempt to get the Gundam Pilots on your side. Idiot!" Duo shouted and then had to catch his breath as a rib stabbed at his lungs.

There was dead silence as everyone stared at him.

"On top of that, but you fuck wads attacked people that are on your side! This is Nathaniel and Micah, members of the Coalition in St. Louis. In fact, I am one of the members as well!"

The weres were now looking at each other nervously, pulling back and trying to slip away. They didn't get far though as Lady Une and a large armed force appeared between them and the way out. Not wanting to make things even worse, they huddled together in the floor, trying to look as nonthreatening as possible.

Meanwhile, Duo had continued. "Do you even know why we're here today? We came to find out if Nate is my brother." He said as he looked down with a smile at the leopard he was leaning on. "I don't care that he is a were. To me, he is just Nate. It doesn't matter that he can change into an animal at will. It doesn't matter that he can be dangerous. Hell, I'm more dangerous than he ever will be and I'm not a were. Well, I should say, I wasn't a were." He chuckled humorlessly as Nate nuzzled him reassuringly.

Suddenly, his legs collapsed.

Before he could hit the floor, Micah caught him and scooped him up into his arms. Sally was right there next to him in a flash and she hurried him towards a side to the stair to get him to the medical wing as fast as possible. Other agents brought the other Pilots as well forming a procession of the wounded.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Duo awoke to the sight of a white ceiling, a sight he hated deeply with all his heart.

"What's a guy got to do to get out of here?" he rasped harshly, his throat feeling as if he had swallowed the desert.

"Duo! You're awake!" a voice exclaimed and he slowly turned his head to peer up into lavender eyes.

"Nate..." he whispered before he began to cough harshly.

"Here, take a sip of water." Nate said he he held up a plastic tumbler with a straw sticking out. After Duo had drunk his fill, Nate put the cup on the table and sat down on the edge of the bed.

"How are you feeling?"

"I feel like shit." Duo said with a shadow of a grin as he painfully tried to shift into a more upright position. "How about you. Did you get hurt? Are you ok?"

"I'm fine. All better now. It was just a couple of minor cuts and bruises so they healed up pretty fast." Nate said with a gentle smile. "Don't worry about me, you were in pretty bad shape when they got you here."

"I'm fine." Duo said.

"Duo, you had every single one of your ribs either broken or cracked and a lot of cuts and bruises. One of the ribs punctured your lung and you almost died of blood loss before they could get all of the bleeding stopped." Nate said quietly and Duo looked at him in shock.

"What? But I don't feel that bad!"

"You've been in a coma for about two and a half weeks." Nate whispered as he brushed the bangs off of Duo's forehead.

"But if I was that badly hurt, I still should be in a lot more pain than I am right now." Duo protested.

Nate glanced away for a moment before he stared deeply into Duo's eyes as he said quietly. "You were infected when those weres attacked you. The advanced healing has helped a lot, but it can only do so much before your first change."

"So do we know what I am going to be?" Duo asked after a couple of moments of silence.

"No. You were hurt by all 5 different kids of weres that attacked the building. You could be anything or you could be everything."

"What do you mean, everything?" Duo asked in shock.

"Anita is a pan-were. It happens sometimes if you are attacked by a couple different kinds in a short amount of time." Nate said as matter of factually as he could as his eyes filled up with tears.

"What the fuck? You mean she is a pan-were? But I've never heard of her changing!" Duo exclaimed as he stared at Nate in shock.

"She doesn't shift. The animal spirits are in her, but for some reason she doesn't change like everyone else. Occasionally one of the animals try to force the shift, but it's like they are trying to rip through her from the inside out." Nate tried to explain.

"So do you think I am going to shift or am I going to like her?"

"I don't know, Duo. I'm sorry, I just don't know."

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

"I just want to talk to talk to him for a minute!"

Duo looked up as he heard Quatre's voice though the closed door of his room. Turning, he looked at Nate who just shrugged, confused.

"Duo, do you want to talk to these guys?" Micah asked as he popped his head into the room.

With a sigh, Duo nodded. "Let them in, I'll talk to them."

Nodding, Micah opened the door and gestured for the group outside to enter. Quatre, Trowa and Wufei entered, determined looks on their faces.

The group gathered around Duo's hospital bed and were silent as they stared at Duo, who gazed back calmly, no expression on his face. Nate and Micah gathered on the other side of the bed near the window to give them a little privacy while remaining in the room in case anything were to happen.

Finally Duo said crisply, "You wanted to talk, so talk."

The other three pilots looked at each other before Trowa said bluntly, "Why did you come and visit me at the Circus?"

Duo rolled his eyes at the group and said flatly, "I though you were my friend and I wanted to see you."

"Why?"

"Well, I really just don't know what the hell I was thinking. I mean, you were never really a friend during the war." Duo snapped.

"Maxwell..." Wufei said with a glower, only to be cut off.

"Shut up, Chang." Duo snapped as he pushed himself higher in the bed. "We fought together, had each others backs. We stayed together in safe houses for most of the war. We used to have fucking movie nights together. I'm sorry if I got the wrong fucking impression that we were more than acquaintances."

"I thought that we were almost a family."

There was dead silence in the room as the three pilots standing before him all starred at him in shock.

"It may have escaped your notice, but I never really had a family before. Anyone I got close to, they usually ended up dieing. But you guys. You guys survived two wars. Two wars where we fought together, lived together, depended on each other. And when the war was over, you each went your own ways. Chang went right to the Preventors. Winner, you went back to your corporation before coming to the Preventors. And Barton went to the circus where he still works when he isn't working with the Preventors. And the Paranoid Bastard himself just went back to him master." Duo laughed quietly to himself for a moment.

"You three kept in touch with each other. If I am not mistaken, Winner and Barton are partners if not together. But God help me if I tried to even say hi to any of you."

"Duo..." Quatre started to say, but was cut off by Duo.

"Just shut up, Winner. You avoided my calls, all letters were returned with a stamp saying return to sender and when I finally went to see you, you gave me a check for a million dollars to 'Make something out of myself.'" Duo said flatly.

"At last Chang always avoided me, even when we had a mission together. We were never close. I tried to be friendly, he avoided me as much as he could when he wasn't trying to cut off my braid for annoying him. But Barton, you and Winner would hang out, help me play pranks on Yui and Chang, we even had similar taste in movies. We used to gang up on the other two to make them watch our movies."

Looking at the three in front of him, he sighed deeply. "I'm tired, guys. I'm tired of always being alone. I'm tired of just being used for what I can do. You guys put up with me during the war and then as soon as it was over, you tossed me away like yesterdays garbage."

"That's not true Duo!" Quatre exclaimed as he took a step forward, one hand tightly clenching the fabric over his heart as Duo's emotions slammed through him. Such a mix of depression, hurt and betrayal! He wasn't even angry at them, just overwhelmed by pain.

"Really, Winner?" Duo said causing the blonde to flinch at the use of his last name instead of one of his endless nicknames that he had always called them by. "When was the last time we hung out? When was the last time we talked on the phone? When was the last time you asked me what I was doing with myself after the wars ended?"

Shaking his head, Duo turned towards the window and the two men standing by it. "I have been more welcomed and accepted by Nate and most of the others since I moved to St. Louis then I ever was by your four. I mean yeah, Anita, Yui, and Jean-Claude don't really like me, but the Pard, the Pack, even most of the Vamps all accept me for who I am."

Soundlessly, Nate stepped towards the bed and gathered Duo into his arms in a tight hug.

"We love you Duo. Never doubt that." he whispered into his ear and Duo wrapped his arms around him and squeezed him back.

"Wait, you mean you know where Heero is?" Trowa asked, taking a step forward.

Heaving a sign, Duo turned his head to glare at the tall green eyed pilot.

"You, Barton, are an idiot. Get out, all of you." Nate said, a growl rumbling in his chest as he too glared at the tall man.

"Hey, wait!" Quatre protested.

"You claim to want to talk to Duo. You listen to what he has to say, and then you ask about Heero?" Micah snarled softly.

"We have been looking for him since he disappeared to ask if he would join the Preventors." Wufei snapped, instantly knowing that it was the wrong thing to say.

Duo flinched minutely at hearing that they had wanted Heero to join, but not once had they ever asked him, another Gundam Pilot.

Nate snarled as he felt the tiny flinch, instantly knowing what Duo was thinking after hearing those words.

"So you four are good enough to be Preventors, but I am not, is that it?" He whispered and instantly Quatre flinched as the feelings of betrayal tripled suddenly.

No one said a word for a long moment as Duo stared at them with a blank face.

Finally, Quatre opened his mouth.

"That's not what he meant Duo. It's just you always, er, bent the rules and hated following orders during the war. We knew that you wouldn't do well in such a controlled environment like the Preventor Organization so we never offered a position to you."

"And whose orders should I have followed? The scientist that none of us listened to if we didn't agree with what ever mission they sent us? I believe I remember a certain mission that you refused to go on,Winner, when it meant that you would have had to dress in drag to infiltrate an all female school." Duo bit out.

"And who ended up doing it as it was beneath you? I did. And I saved that school when OZ was going to blow it up to frame us. But lets face it, a school with over 800 teachers and students is no where near as important as demeaning yourself for couple weeks." He snapped sarcastically.

"And lets not forget the time, Barton, that you refused a mission that we were supposed to do together. I believe it was an infiltration mission to steal blueprints for a new mobile suit that would have been capable to taking us on like the Tallgesse and the Epyon suits. I believe your excuse was that one of the animals at the circus had a cut on the leg." Duo smiled grimly as the tall pilot.

"Oh, it was fully understandable that you need to take care of the horse seeing that you were in charge of only the lions and the vet had already looked her over and fixed her up. Completely understandable. But seeing that the others were on missions of their own, I had to do that one by myself. I also believe that that I ended up getting caught as my partner who was supposed to cause a diversion wasn't there to do his job. I believe three broken ribs, a dislocated shoulder and knee, numerous bruises and cuts, as well as a severe concussion were the injuries I got from that debacle. But at least I had destroyed the plans and records, so it really didn't matter what happened to me. I mean, it's not like any of you kept an eye on me to make sure I didn't slip into a coma."

"What?" Nate shouted, his grip on Duo tightening in shock that they had left him alone with a severe concussion.

Duo just patted Nate arm reassuringly before turn his eyes back to the pilots.

"And that brings us to Chang."

"I was never dishonorable enough to refuse a mission." Wufei snapped angrily.

"No, you never flat out refused a mission." Duo said calmly and Wufei nodded with a superior smirk. "You just abandoned a mission ten minutes into it."

That wiped the smirk off his face real fast.

"I believe that it was on the anniversary of your wife's death. We were to intercept a shipment of gundanium that OZ had gotten a hold of. We were about two miles from the interception point when you screamed at me about my music, which actually was barely loud enough for me to hear in my cockpit, much less loud enough to bother you, and then you turned around and left me there. I believe your last words were something to the affect that since I was such an unprofessional fool that no one wanted to work with me, I might as well get myself killed and get out of all of you guys' hair.

"Yes, you are very honorable, Chang. I finished that mission, my buddy almost being destroyed in the process, and by the time I got back to the safe house, the four of you had packed up and moved to another one without tell me anything. In fact, you had taken all the food in the house as well at any transportation that I could use to go to town to get something. I never did figure out where you guys went. It was like you had disappeared off the face of the earth." he said.

Suddenly, he began laughing as he caught sight of Quatre's guilty face. "Damn, you guys went to the colonies, didn't you? And since I didn't hear about any Gundam attacks or battles during the time you guys were gone, you were probably taking a a little vacation while I was still fighting."

"And what about you, Duo? It's not like you never turned down a mission. How dare you make us out to be terrible people when you refused to!" Quatre exclaimed angrily, lashing out as it had been his idea to go on a vacation with the other three pilots to one of his estates on L4 without the braided pilot.

"Yes, I refused a mission. One mission and you can check the records about it too. The only mission I refused was when I was ordered to take out a church where Alliance soldiers were hiding. The mission was raze the entire church to the ground and kill everyone inside. I refused and later, it was proven to have been a fake mission. Oz had found out about me and the Maxwell Church Massacre and had set it up like when Heero had taken out that plane full of pacifists."

Everyone in the room was now pale with shock, before Nate finally broke the silence, changing the subject a bit.

"Wait, earlier, you said you were real close to those two," he said gesturing to Trowa and Quatre, "but you just got through saying how they kept screwing you over. I don't get it."

"That's easy, everything I was just talking about happened towards the beginning of the war. It took us a while, but the five of us found a balance the last couple of months we were all together." Duo said quietly.

"If they had just stayed the same throughout the whole time we fought together, everything that happened after the war would never have happened. I wouldn't have tried to remain in contact at all with them and I would have never have gotten hurt. The only reason I got as upset as I did, was because we had gotten closer as friends instead of just allies."

Suddenly, the door swung open and Sally stepped into the room.

"You guys need to leave now." she said the the three agents in front of her. "I need to give Duo one last check up before he is discharged."

Nodding silently, the three nodded farewell and headed for the door. Just as they reached it, Duo's voice stopped them.

"You asked if I know where Yui is." he said and they turned around to face him quickly.

"Yes, we did." Quatre said simply.

"Well, he is in St. Louis. Good luck trying to get him to join you here. I don't think his Master will let him go again."

A/N:

Wow, it' been a while! But here is the next chapter, even if it was kinda slow. The next chapter will have the start of the romance and more action than this one did.

WARNING! THE POLL WILL BE CLOSING ON MARCH 12TH! VOTE FOR WHO YOU WANT DUO TO BE WITH NOW AS THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL START BRINGING THEM TOGETHER!

NOW GO TO MY PROFILE AND VOTE!

Shinigami-chan


End file.
